A response to the evaluation question 2

1. HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE
COMBINATION OF YOUR
MAIN PRODUCT AND
ANCILLARY TEXTS?

2. This is our final poster, produced for our Music video
‘Muse-The Handler’.
The use of the muse logo makes the audience aware that this ancillary text is promoting a muse
product. This attracts current fans of the band whilst also making it more noticeable to target
audiences who may of heard of Muse. The logo has also been used on the digipak, helping to
create a connection between the two texts. However, Muse’s logo was not used in our main
product, and so the music video may not get to our target audience of alt-rock fans. Therefore in
this instance the ancillary text has not been combined effectively with the main product.
FIRE-Fire is a motif amongst all of our media
creations , helping to combine the ancillary texts with
the main product. This means the ancillary texts
advertise the music video to audience more effectively
as they are keeping a consistent, simple theme that
audiences can understand. Therefore the combination
is effective.
The image on the poster has been taken from our
main media product. This helps show audiences
the relationship between the ancillary text and
main product, as they see on the poster what they
would see in the music video. Therefore the texts
are combined effectively.
In the poster we added a release date
for the music video, to make
audiences aware of when they can
watch it. Having a date is very
common on posters and can be for a
range of things such as tour dates,
single release dates and album
release dates.
The font on the poster has been
used across all of our ancillary
texts and also in our music video.
This consistency helps to connect
the separate texts so that they
relate to one another and
promote each other.
In conclusion our poster effectively combines with the main product to help advertise the
song and its music video to the target audience. This is due to the image of “the handler”
used in the poster that is seen across all texts, including the main product. It helps
audiences visually recognise the product, with other aspects like the same font and motif
of fire helping to strengthen the link between the texts. Furthermore, whilst the absence of
Muse’s logo in the music video may affect the synergy of the texts, their name is still
present at the start and the use of their song “The Handler” definitely links the product to
the ancillary texts.

3. Main theme of oppression and subjugation is shown throughout our music video and on
our Digipak allowing people to recognise and identify it easily. Oppression is shown in our
video with the kidnapping and torturing sequence most notably with the capture scene
when the victim is thrown into the ground, the sense of oppression is shown with both the
physical dominance of the handler, as there is nothing the victim can do to fight back. But
it also demonstrates it in a mental sense with the victim running away in the dark and you
don’t see the Handler until the victim is caught which shows how the Handler is using fear
to control and force the victim into an area that he wants and use it to his advantage. This
idea of the victim being oppressed is conveyed on our digipak’s inside covers where we see
two men facing one another. The man on the left looks down, whilst the man on the right
(The Handler) looks straight ahead, directly at the “victim.” This imagery shows the “victim”
as submissive, whilst the handler is made to look dominant. From this the idea of
oppression is made relating to the meaning in the music video.
OPPRESSION

4. In the music video there is definitely a portrayal of 2 opposing sides, those being the victim and the
handler. Throughout the whole beginning of the video, the victim is seen as running then being
captured, however we are also led to believe that the handler is the victim. Demonstrating not only
conflict in a physical fight between the two characters as one tries to survive and the other kill, but also
with the metaphorical fight of good vs evil.
This opposition is created in the video from the beginning when we see the victim running in one shot,
and then the Handler walking towards the camera in another. Firstly the separation of the characters
into their own shots conveys their distance and separation from one another. Then the fact that the
victim runs whilst the handler walks shows the difference between them; the victim is in panic and
scared trying to get away whilst the Handler is in control and in pursuit. This conveys a clear opposition
between the two characters to the audience. This theme is then carried onto the digipak, where inside
there is a shot of the “victim” on the left facing the Handler on the right. The two characters have again
been separated, only this time not by shot but by the side of the digipak they’re on. Furthermore the
face to face imagery created portrays the two as opposing sides, much like in the video. In this sense our
digipak has taken themes from the main product and so combines well with it, making it easier for
audiences to recognise.
GOOD VS EVIL
Inside covers of the digipack
containing the “victim” and the
handler

5. To further show that our music video and
Digipak correlate, is the fact that we use the
same shots from the music that allow people
to identify with it more clearly. It also allows
people to have a better understanding and
visual recognition of the music video as the
same shots and ones similar to it allow for
people to grasp the main message behind the
story. The fact that it also uses the same
images from the music video also helps
establish the main themes and motives of the
music video to the audience before they view
it giving them a clear understanding.
SHOTS
Front of digipak containing an adapted shot from the music
video

6. TRACK LISTING
Back of digipak with a picture of the handler, Muse logo and track
listing
On the back of the digipak we have the track
listings for the album “The Handler” is on. These
have all been visually scratched and distorted,
except for “The Handler.” This highlights “The
Handler” making it more prominent than the
others and inferring it is more important. In this
sense it links to our main product as our music
video used the “The Handler” song. Furthermore
the fact that the handler hasn’t been scratched out
makes it seem, visually, as though it was “The
Handler” that scratched all the other track listings.
This helps link back to theme of oppression that, as
stated before, is used in our main product and so
this helps the digipak combine effectively with the
main product.